


To Hel and Back

by tethrasing



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Friendship, Gen, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 18:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16603460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tethrasing/pseuds/tethrasing
Summary: When the Watcher goes missing, it's up to her companions to find her. But will they reach her before she's taken from Defiance Bay?





	To Hel and Back

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this with pre-Aloth/Watcher in mind, but it could also be read as pre-Edér/Watcher. This was inspired by the prompt "just breathe, okay?"

“Aw, come on, Pallegina,” Edér pleaded, “It’ll be fun!”

 

“No,” Pallegina replied.

 

“You don’t think it’ll be fun?” Edér asked.

 

The two of them were sitting at a table eating breakfast at the Goose and Fox with Sagani who was shaking her head, amused at their argument.

 

“ _Complanca_ , no. Having an arm wrestling contest with you would not be fun. Either you will win and boast about it until the end of time or I will win and you will be a sore loser,” Pallegina said, not looking up from her meal.

 

“But don’t you wanna know who’s stronger?” Edér asked, changing tactics.

 

“Oh, I think we know who’s stronger,” Sagani smiled, looking at Pallegina out of the corner of her eye.

 

Pallegina gave a small smile of her own before taking a sip from her glass.

 

“Hey, now,” Edér said, feigning a wounded expression and bringing a hand to rest over his heart, “Those are hurtful words!”

 

Just then, Aloth sat down at the table with them. He was frowning and nervously playing with the frayed edge of his cloak as he asked, “Is Brianna not here?”

 

Edér shook his head. “I assumed she was still upstairs in her room.”

 

Aloth’s frown deepened. “I knocked on her door. There was no answer.”

 

Edér wasn’t prone to jumping to conclusions, but it wasn’t like Brianna to sleep in so late.

 

He pushed his chair back and stood up. “I’m about done eatin’ anyways. I’ll go check on her.”

 

Edér made his way up the stairs to the bedrooms and found the Watcher’s. He knocked and waited.

 

When there was no answer, he called, “Brianna?”

 

There was still no answer. Edér tried the door handle and found it was unlocked. Slowly, he opened the door and saw the room in a state of disarray. The sheets had fallen to the floor and some had blood on them. The window was wide open, a gentle breeze lifting the drapes slightly. Brianna’s longbow was on the ground, arrows spilled next to it.

 

Rubbing his hand over his bearded chin, Edér let out a curse before heading back downstairs to get the others.

 

* * *

 

 

When Brianna awoke, it was to a throbbing sensation just above her right eye. Slowly, she opened her eyes and took stock. She was sitting on a hard, wooden floor in a room lit only by a few candles. No sunlight. Her hands and feet were bound by rope. She felt herself being gently rocked. _A ship, then_ , she thought. The waves were gentle. Hopefully that meant she was still in the Defiance Bay harbor and not out at sea somewhere.

 

Then, the memories from last night came flooding back. She had woken to people covering her mouth. She had been able to subdue one of her attackers with her cipher talents, but there were too many of them to take on by herself. A dagger had sliced her forehead in the struggle. She had tried to grab for her bow, but it was just out of reach. She tried to scream out for her friends only to be punched in the gut, the wind knocked out of her.

 

 _My friends will find me_. _They have to_. Sagani was an incredible tracker. There was nowhere these thugs could hide her that Sagani and Itumaak couldn’t find her.

 

Just then, a human man entered the room through the only door. Brianna didn’t recognize him, but it had been dark when she was attacked and she wasn’t sure she would recognize any of the people who had abducted her. The man carried a tray in his hands.

 

Brianna resisted the urge to incapacitate him with her cipher abilities. Chances were his friends were waiting for him just outside the door. With her hand and feet still bound, there was little she could do anyway. She decided to bide her time, instead.

 

The man walked towards her and placed the tray on the floor in front of her. It held a bowl of oatmeal, a spoon, and a glass of water. It wasn’t exactly a filling meal, but Brianna’s stomach rumbled at the sight.

 

The man turned and began to walk towards the door.

 

“Who are you?” Brianna called to his retreating back, “Why did you bring me here?”

 

He stopped at the door to face her.

 

“The boss’ll be in to see you later today. Don’t worry, we aren’t going to kill you,” he told her, his Vailian accent thick.

 

Bounty hunters, then. The thought did little to comfort her as the man closed the door behind him. She figured they were after the Readceran bounty. She could hardly blame them, 7,000 coppers wasn’t an amount to scoff at.

 

Carefully reaching forward with her bound hands, she eagerly dug in to the bland oatmeal, wondering where her friends were.

 

* * *

 

 

Edér wiped the sweat from his brow before it could fall into his eyes. The heat of Defiance Bay reminded him of long summer days working in the fields with his family. He could almost hear Woden calling to him in the yells and cries of the crowd milling around him in Ondra’s Gift.

 

“Oi, lad, have a drink ‘fore the heat of the sun drives ye completely mad,” Iselmyr said, voice rising over the din of the harbor.

 

Edér turned his head to Aloth, who was clearing his throat. He handed Edér a water skin.

 

“Well, she’s not wrong,” Aloth conceded.

 

Edér nodded his thanks and took a long drink of water. He needed to focus. They had been searching all day for Brianna and the clues had led them to Ondra’s Gift.

 

Whoever had abducted the Watcher was smart; Sagani tracked their movements to First Fires, but the group had split up from there. Rather than having Sagani follow all the false trails, Edér had their party to split up and talk to people in the area, anyone who might have been around when the captors came through.

 

After about an hour, Aloth had come hurrying back to him with information from a baker who had been moving bags of grain in the early hours of the morning. The woman had seen what sounded like Brianna being carried against her will to Ondra’s Gift.

 

Unfortunately, Ondra’s Gift was large. Any tracks left by Brianna’s abductors had long since been covered up by the footfalls of others.

 

Edér turned to Pallegina and Sagani. Itumaak was panting and his pink tongue hung out of his mouth.

 

“I’m open to ideas, if anyone’s got ‘em,” Edér said.

 

Pallegina looked to the water’s edge. “ _Ac_ , I do. I believe we should speak to the sailors. They are up at all hours and such people are often _nasenales_. They may speak to us, if not willingly, then for a price.”

 

Sagani looked up at Pallegina, shielding her eyes from the sun. “What’s a… _nasenale_?” she asked, her tongue finding its way around the unfamiliar Vailian word.

 

“It is a…” Pallegina paused, “nosy person. They like to be in other people’s business.”

 

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s get to it,” Edér agreed. The four of them and Itumaak made their way to the docks. There, sailors milled about in varying degrees of drunkenness and nakedness.

 

Edér split them up to cover more ground, Sagani going with him to the south and Aloth and Pallegina to the north. The sailors they talked to were friendly enough, many of them excited to see Itumaak, but most of them hadn’t seen Brianna.

 

Finally, they approached a woman who wore an impressive looking hat. Edér assumed this meant she was the captain of a ship. Not for the first time that day, he wished he knew more about sailing. The woman had dark brown skin and long dreadlocks, down to her waist. She wore thigh high leather boots and her red hat had several feathers in it.

 

“Excuse me, ma’am,” he began, getting her attention, “We’re looking for information about our friend. She was abducted last night from Copperlane. She’s about yea high, long black hair, bronze-colored skin. Would’ve come through here last night or early morning, being moved against her will, or maybe unconscious. You see anyone like that?”

 

The assumed captain looked at Edér, then at Sagani, then back to Edér.

 

“Shit,” she practically snarled.

 

Edér resisted the urge to react. He knew you got more flies with honey than vinegar and Brianna needed him to keep calm.

 

“I take it that’s a yes,” he said.

 

She narrowed her eyes, seemingly frustrated.

 

“One of my boys told me a story about a girl being dragged kicking and screaming onto a ship he didn’t recognize early this morning,” she explained, “but he was so drunk, I didn’t bother to listen. Just told him to go sleep it off.”

 

Edér took a step forward.

 

“Which ship?”

 

She turned and pointed to a ship several miles out at sea.

 

Edér cursed quietly.

 

Sagani pulled at Edér’s sleeve. “We can still catch ‘em. I’ll go round up Pallegina and Aloth,” she said in a rush before taking off in a run with Itumaak hot on her heels.

 

Edér turned back to the captain, “Look, Captain…”

 

“Alayne,” she finished.

 

“Alayne. The girl on that ship? I owe her a debt. I need to get out there. I’ll pay you, however much it takes,” Edér implored.

 

Alayne looked uncertain for a moment before turning on her heel and striding purposefully to her own ship.

 

“Up and at ‘em, boys! We’ve got a ship to catch!”

 

* * *

 

 

Brianna’s heart was pounding. She had felt the ship lurch as it left the harbor, but there was little she could do under the circumstances. She still believed her friends would find her, but if they got too far from Defiance Bay…

 

The door opened and a female Glamfellen walked in. For such a small woman, she cut an imposing figure. She said nothing as she approached, but as she came closer Brianna could see the wrinkles framing her face and mouth. Her black hair was cropped close to her head in a pixie cut.

 

The elf kneeled in front of Brianna and spoke, “Name’s Bletha. Heard you put up quite a fight.”

 

Brianna said nothing in response, but maintained eye contact.

 

“That’s alright, you don’t need to say anything,” she continued, “See, I’m not certain you’re aware, but several days ago the bounty that fella in Readceras set on your head changed. It’s 7,000 coppers alive…and 5,000 dead.”

 

Brianna felt herself go very still. She tried not to show any emotion on her face, but wasn’t sure she succeeded.

 

“Obviously, we wanna bring you in alive. Seven thousands a lot more than 5,000. But…well, it’ll be easier to show you.”

 

Bletha brought out a small, but sharp looking knife. Brinna sucked in a breath, but Bletha brought the knife to the rope that bound her ankles and swiftly cut through them.

 

Bletha helped Brianna to her feet and led her out of the room she had been held in. They slowly made their way to the deck. Brianna blinked repeatedly at the bright sunlight as it warmed her skin.

 

“They’ve been following us for over an hour,” Bletha told her, sounding almost annoyed.

 

Once her eyes adjusted, Brianna followed Bletha’s gaze and spotted a ship. Sure enough, it was sailing several leagues behind them, but Brianna swore it was travelling slightly faster than they were.

 

“Friends of yours?” Bletha asked. Brianna was surprised to see a small smile tugging at the elf’s lips. “We’ll have to face them soon. It’d be a shame for us to have to kill them.”

 

 _Or maybe they’ll kill you_ , Brianna thought.

 

“What do you want?” Brianna asked instead.

 

“You can tell your friends to go back to Defiance Bay. No one has to die today,” Bletha said, “But, if they insist on fighting, I can’t ensure your safety.”

 

Brianna knew a threat when she heard one. She also knew what would happen if she were delivered to the man in Readceras. The man who had murdered her parents.

 

She knew what she had to do.

 

* * *

 

 

Edér stood on the bow of The Sea Nymph with Pallegina, Aloth, and Sagani at his side. Occasionally, the ship would dip and sea water would spray him lightly in the face. The salt stung his eyes, but he didn’t dare look away from the ship in front of them.

 

Behind them, Edér could hear Captain Alayne shouting orders to her crew from the helm. Whatever she was doing, he was beyond grateful; they had nearly caught up to the ship Brianna was on. Edér estimated that within a few minutes, they would be able to board.

 

Aloth was wringing his hands together, his eyes on the ship in front of them. Edér placed what was meant to be a comforting hand on the elf’s shoulder, but Aloth jumped a little before turning to face him.

 

“We’ll get her back, Aloth,” Edér told him, “Don’t you worry.”

 

Aloth’s smiled was slightly strained, but Edér figured it was better than nothing.

 

“Edér, look,” Sagani said, an anxious edge to her voice that he wasn’t used to hearing.

 

While his attention was on Aloth, they had closed enough of the gap with the other ship to see the people on the deck. In the middle stood the unmistakable form of the Watcher. Edér felt some of the tension drain out of his shoulders when he saw her, but his heart clenched when he realized her wrists were bound and her arm was being held by a pale elf standing next to her.

 

Edér leaned down and whispered a quick word to Sagani. She smiled and winked at him before dashing off with Itumaak. He stood to his full height and motioned for Aloth and Pallegina to follow him. Together, they moved to the right, middle of the ship.

 

Captain Alayne slowly brought The Sea Nymph in next to the other ship. Edér was able to get a closer look at Brianna; her hair was a tangled mess and dried blood coated half of her face, but she looked resolute rather than scared.

 

The pale elf next to Brianna pulled out a sharp looking dagger from her belt.

 

“This is my opening offer,” she shouted across the gap between the ships before bringing the dagger dangerously close to Brianna’s neck, “turn back, or the girl dies.”

 

Edér felt Aloth stiffen next to him as Pallegina reached for her blade. Trying to calm the situation, Edér raised his hands in a placating gesture.

 

“Hold on, now. Can I at least talk to my friend here before you make any rash decisions?” Edér asked, gesturing to Brianna. She was breathing heavily now, tension evident in her frame.

 

The pale elf seemed to consider his words for a moment. “Fine,” was all she said. She did not remove the dagger from Brianna’s throat.

 

“How you doin’, Brianna?” Edér asked.

 

Brianna smiled weakly at him.

 

“Oh, you know,” she replied, “Been better. It’s good to see you guys.”

 

Edér nodded at her. He saw Brianna glance up and to his right, then back at him. She nodded.

 

“You want us to leave? Go back to Defiance Bay?” he asked.

 

Brianna closed her eyes. “No. I’d rather die than go back to Readceras.”

 

The pale elf drew the dagger closer to Brianna’s neck, her face contorting in anger. She opened her mouth to speak, but at the same time Edér let out a whistle. A split second later, Sagani fired an arrow from her spot in the crow’s nest. The arrow hit the pale elf right between the eyes and she fell backwards, dragging Brianna down with her.

 

For a moment, everything was still. Then, the pale elf’s crew erupted in anger. They drew their weapons and rushed forward. Edér and Pallegina drew their weapons as well and jumped the gap between the ships, rushing into the fray. Aloth withdrew his grimoire and began casting spells. From her perch, Sagani continued to fire arrows, easily felling enemy after enemy.

 

Edér and Pallegina intended to go straight to Brianna’s prone form, but were intercepted by several bounty hunters. A large aumauan woman slashed her sword at Edér, but he easily caught the blow on his shield. While the aumauan was distracted, Pallegina brought her flaming sword crashing down on top of her.

 

A dark-skinned dwarven rogue made to bury his daggers in Pallegina’s back, but Edér swept his sword out in a large arc in front of him, pushing the rogue backwards and knocking his weapons to the deck. Edér finished him off with shield bash to the head.

 

Turning around, he saw Pallegina finishing off the final bounty hunter that stood between them and Brianna. Edér rushed to the Watcher while Pallegina kept a defensive stance around them. Brianna was laying on her side, breathing heavily. Fresh blood was splattered across her face, hair, and neck, but Edér couldn’t tell if any of it belonged to her.

 

“Brianna?” he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

 

“I’m…fine…just knocked…the wind out of me,” she replied between breaths.

 

Edér gently turned Brianna so she was laying on her back and moved her bloody hair out of her face. Now that he could see, he realized that when the pale elf fell, she must have nicked Brianna with the dagger; her neck was slowly oozing blood, but the cut didn’t seem to be deep.

 

Edér took out his knife and carefully cut the rope that bound her hands together. As tenderly as he could, he scooped up Brianna in his arms and stood. The battle was almost over now. To his surprise, he saw Captain Alayne and some of her men and women had joined in to fight the bounty hunters. Alayne was currently finishing off the final stragglers at the stern of the bounty hunter’s ship. Pallegina moved to join her as Edér made his way to The Sea Nymph.

 

Edér turned his attention back to Brianna and felt her struggling to take in proper breaths. He adjusted his grip on her as he felt her bring her hand to grasp at his shoulder.

 

“Just breathe, okay?” he told her quietly.

 

* * *

 

 

Edér felt the muscles in his right arm straining, but he couldn’t rest now. He and Pallegina had been arm wrestling for ten minutes and they had been deadlocked for nearly as long. Occasionally, one of them would manage to tilt the other’s hand slightly, only for their hands to move back to center.

 

Edér was determined to win.

 

Edér could tell Pallegina wouldn’t be giving up any time soon, now that she had agreed to arm wrestle him. Her face was a mask, giving away no emotion.

 

Sagani had grown bored of the competition several minutes ago and had gone back to her meal.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Edér spotted Brianna coming down the stairs of the Goose and Fox. She still had a bandage over the cut on her forehead, but otherwise she was fine. It seemed Edér wasn’t the only one who noticed her entrance because as soon as she reached the landing, Aloth was out of his chair.

 

Edér didn’t even try to hide his staring as he turned his head to look at Aloth and Brianna. Pallegina tried to take advantage of his distracted state, moving his hand to the right slightly, but Edér quickly moved their hands back to center.

 

Brianna smiled softly at Aloth as he approached, the smile Edér had noticed she saved just for the elf. They spoke for several moments before the smile faded from her face. The conversation seemed to grow serious as Brianna’s brow knit together. She hesitated a moment before gently enveloping Aloth in a hug. Aloth stiffened before wrapping his arms around Brianna.

 

“Where I come from,” Pallegina interrupted, “it is rude to stare.”

 

Edér turned his head to see Pallegina was smirking.

 

“Then how come you were doin’ it, too?” he retorted.

 

He felt Pallegina push experimentally at his hand. He held firm.

 

“I was not staring. I was…observing,” she said.

 

“Uh huh,” was all Edér said in reply.

 

“How long has this been going on?” Brianna’s voice came from behind him.

 

Aloth sat down in the empty seat next to Edér, eyeing the arm wrestling contest warily.

 

“Nearly fifteen minutes now,” Sagani piped up from her spot next to Pallegina.

 

Brianna moved to stand in between Edér and Pallegina’s entwined hands. She looked between the two warriors for a moment before a sly smile tugged at her features.

 

“I can end this in five seconds,” Brianna declared.

 

Pallegina scoffed.

 

“Don’t believe me? Watch,” Brianna said.

 

The Watcher leaned in to Edér, ghosting her lips over his own. Edér’s brain stopped functioning as their breath mingled together. Then, Brianna planted a gentle kiss just to the right of Edér’s mouth.

 

Pallegina slammed Edér’s hand to the table. Sagani burst out laughing as Brianna pulled away, grinning. Aloth had gone very quiet and Edér swore he was blushing.

 

“Hey!” Edér exclaimed, finally making his mouth work, “That’s cheatin’!”

 

“Sure is,” Brianna said, still smirking.

 

They spent the rest of breakfast arguing about who would really win in an arm wrestling contest between Edér and Pallegina. For Edér’s part, he was just glad to have Brianna back, safe and sound.

 

As they were gathering their things to head out for the day, Brianna pulled Edér aside.

 

“Hey, I just wanted to say…” Brianna said, “Well, I never really thanked you. For what you did. So, thank you. For saving my life.”

 

“Just returnin’ the favor,” he replied easily.

 

He hoped she knew just how much she had saved him. Not just by getting him out of Gilded Vale and giving him a purpose, but with her kindness. With her companionship. With her unconditional support.

 

As Edér followed Brianna out of the tavern, he knew she was the kind of person he would follow to Hel and back.


End file.
